Veterans: Honoring Your Service

We talk a lot at Baron and Budd about protecting what’s right. And we can’t think of anything more right or worthy of protection than our own veterans.

This year has been one of hard knocks for many veterans. We were appalled to learn about the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ shockingly slow treatment of our heroes. According to many news reports, some veterans even lost their lives because of the VA’s mishandling.

Perhaps it is no surprise that many aging WWII veterans took up volunteering at VA hospitals to help their fellow veterans in need of health care.

These honorable volunteers exemplify commitment and patriotism. Which got us thinking: How do people define patriotism?

Abraham Lincoln said: “I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.”

Elmer Davis said: “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”

These are all fantastic views of what patriotism means on a grand level. But what about individual patriotism in action? Typically, that means military service. Service in combat, of course, comes to mind first. Then comes service farther from the battlefield. And finally comes service after duty like the WWII veterans volunteering to help their brothers and sisters in uniform.

This Veteran’s Day we’d like to add another form of service. You may think we’re biased (we are lawyers after all) but we do have one of the biggest U.S. Navy heroes of all time on our side.

His name was Admiral Zumwalt, the youngest man to ever serve as Chief of Naval Operations. As an admiral, Zumwalt played a major role in U.S. military history, especially during the Vietnam War.

Yet despite his strength, Zumwalt was no match for asbestos. Ultimately he succumbed to mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos. But before he died, Zumwalt took one more brave step: he hired Baron and Budd to file a lawsuit against the businesses that knowingly sold asbestos-laden products to our military.

Today, we say thank you to Admiral Zumwalt and veterans like him.